A woman who pleaded guilty to child abuse in connection with the 2006 death of her daughter has been arrested after violating her probation.
Traci Leann Carpenter was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days in prison and three years on house arrest after pleading guilty to a child abuse charge in 2014.
When 18-month-old Sierra Carpenter stopped breathing in April 2006, Traci Carpenter's then-boyfriend Brian Rutherford rushed the toddler to the hospital. Rutherford was eventually charged in her death but was acquitted in a 2008 jury trial. Carpenter was charged with aggravated child neglect, and prosecutors alleged she failed to protect her daughter from abuse by Rutherford. She eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of child abuse.
In court Thursday, District Attorney General Neal Pinkston said Carpenter violated the terms of her probation by using drugs. She will serve the remainder of a six month jail sentence, then she will head directly into a drug treatment facility, her attorney said.
Traci Carpenter listens during her pre-trial hearing in Criminal Court Judge Don Poole's court on in this 2011 file photo.Judge Don Poole, who presided over the first case involving her daughter, said he'd become familiar with her case.
"I was very, very saddened to see what happened," Poole said. "I don't want to see anything happen to you like what happened before."
Poole asked Carpenter if she had another child. She did, she said. That child is now 3 years old and staying with her husband.
"For your sake, your child's sake and the memory of that other child, please do what you can," Poole said.
Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at cwiseman@timesfreepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @clairelwiseman.